Chapter 3

By: Cat Paws

I lost him. How could I lose him? How? I sat on a rock, looking at the lake, our battlefield. The waters and surrounding life appear to be unaffected by the battle.

Our first battle together as partners and I lose him to an insignificant soldier. If only he was ready for this, then we would have handled that thing, no problem. But we weren't ready. I wasn't ready.

The others are coming. They no doubt had seen the light. I can't face them, not after losing him, but I must. I am still in full battle gear when they approach, my helmet and blade lying next to me on the rock.

Wildfire is first, followed closely by Hardrock and Strata. They appear fully armored, as well. I almost laugh at them, at myself, knowing that they could not have done anything to change what took place here.

"Hey you! What's going on here?" Ryo of the Wildfire asks, his weapons ready to strike. I look off into the distance and do not answer. They don't recognize me? Not that surprising, all though a little hard to swallow. My poor friends, what have I done?

I look back at them, listening to their questions and demands, taking it all in and letting it crush me inside. They make accusations, all of them, including my best friend, Rowen of Strata. They want to fight me. Battle me, their friend and comrade. I revert back to my normal clothes, my normal self, and hop off the rock, all the while not saying a word.

As I walk past, I cause them to fall silent. I can't bring myself to look at them, being too ashamed of my failure. I already know what they are thinking. It is written as plainly on their minds as if they were broadcasting it to the world. They are afraid to come near me, afraid to look at me, because they saw, for a moment, what I was.

But that does not matter now. What matters now is getting Cye back. I continue into the forest, leaving them to absorb what they saw. I must ready myself for the next battle, the next confrontation, if I am to find Cye of the Torrent.

"Um, Sage? Wait!" I stop, trying my best to hold myself together. Trying not to explode with anger and grief. Trying not to break down. This is not the time for me to loose my control, as well.

The others catch up to me. They have dismissed their armors and surround me. I look up at them and let a smile of cunning spread across my face. I let my other half take over for the moment. The part of me that is not ashamed of my foolish mistake. This change in my manner catches them off guard, causing them to pull back.

"What do you want?" I purr calmly. Even my understanding friend Rowen does not want to look directly at me as I wait for their response. It is when I notice their reluctance to approach me, that I wonder who would have the guts to challenge me. Would it be Rowen, the philosopher and planner? Perhaps Kento, the brute force, attack now ask later. Or would it be you, Ryo? Ryo, the hotheaded, impulsive leader of this group. Each would be strong enough, but would they want to test that strength as I do?

I push past them, deciding that they are wasting my time. The story will be told, but for now it would be best if they just stayed out of my way. If I told them what is happening, by getting them involved in this mess, I would be putting them in even more danger then they normally would be. I can't risk losing any more of them.

Then again, if I tell them, they would be better prepared in case another attack comes. The thing is, these attackers are only after Cye and myself. They would only get in the way by trying to protect me as I tried with Cye. Their powers aren't enough to combat these creatures. I alone could not beat an insignificant soldier, and my abilities have grown more powerful then theirs.

That soldier, there was something about that soldier. Maybe there is more to him then I originally thought. He was much stronger than I had anticipated our new enemy's henchmen to be. Is there a possibility that that soldier was a general or a new Warlord? This could be. In that case, perhaps we're not hopeless after all.

During our battle, it appeared that I had injured him. If Cye's attack had been stronger, we may have been able to finish him off. This could be good. I just hope that is what it is. If not, then we are in way over our heads. The Armor of Inferno may not even be enough to defeat them, should things get out of hand.

Someone is here, an unwanted presence at that. No doubt the attacker has returned to finish the job. This soon? He must be desperate. "Sage." I turn to the voice, my guard still up.

"Damn it, Rowen. Get out of here." I say as my friend emerges from the brush. I catch a glimpse of shadows moving behind him.

"No. I wont leave you till you tell me what the hell is going on here."

"You're about to find out." I take him down as a spray of red darts shoot out from the trees behind him. "Call your armor." I tell him, then follow my own advice.

A scythe drops inches from my face as I block with my blade. That is when the rest of my attacker comes into the open. "Halo, if you surrender now, no harm will come to you or your friend there," my attacker rasps. He sneers as he pushes down on his weapon.

"In your dreams. Leave Strata out of this." I shove him off and slash for his legs. His block is accompanied by a right hook. I dodge and swing around with my no-dachi, slicing his side, good and deep.

This slows him, but not enough to stop him. He swishes with his weapon, aiming to sever my head from the rest of me. Hmm, he knows.

With that maneuver, I duck and swipe his legs out from under him. He crashes to the ground on his injured side, dropping the scythe. To this, I rise and make quick work of finishing him off. This is not the same solider, far too easy.

Another shower of darts comes from the trees. Great, there are two. I drop to the ground and roll to avoid those things. In the process, I come across Rowen were I had left him.

There appears to be a red glow around him and he is unconscious. No, not you too. I stand and scan the area. There is no movement. The darts came from the same place as the first time.

I approach that direction and notice a flashing. I push the brush aside and find a mechanism set with those red darts. I attempt to touch the machine in order to shut it off, only to pull away in pain.

The light flashes faster and it prepares to shoot another set of those darts. I disengage it with a swish of my no-dachi. This causes it to explode then vanish. Such a shame I could not have taken it apart to see what I would be up against.

But those dart, that poison, was all over that thing. I could feel it, even through my armor. The poison reminds me of Rowen.

Reverting back to normal, I go to his side. That same pain is felt as I attempt to touch him. He was hit. Who knows what will happen to him. Damn you, Rowen! I told you to leave. See what happens? You get hurt.

How can I help him if I can't touch him? Maybe the others can help. As much as I hate to ask them, they are the only ones who can do anything at this point.

I have to assume that he will be okay by just leaving him there. A risk I must take if I am to make a difference. I race back to the house, finding the other two on the deck. "We have a problem! Get your butts moving! Come on!" They jump up and run after me.

I hear them behind me and hope that they can keep up. I make it back to the clearing to find Rowen still there but the other body had disappeared. No matter, we have to tend to Rowen. Still, are they watching?

I stand over him, his pain flowing into me. I can't block it or pull away from it. It holds me there, frozen in its red glow. It is as though the poison is infecting me, as well.

I feel a touch on my shoulder and find Ryo by my side. Kento is on my other side. This touch slowly helps to release me from the poison's hold. I back away from Rowen. Ryo and Kento still stand, staring at him. "Can you touch him?" I ask as Ryo kneels, placing a hand on his head.

"What happened to him?" asks Kento as he moves to Rowen's other side. He also touches him. Good, they're not affected. "What happened?" There is a pleading look in his eyes. Ryo does not look up.

I swallow and answer, "He was injected with some sort of poison. I don't know what will happen to him or how to cure him. I can't even go near him to help." I look away in shame. Some friend I am.

"If you had told us what was going on, this wouldn't have happened." I can feel Ryo's anger begin to build.

"It wouldn't have made a difference, except that it would have been any of us instead of Rowen."

"You're so selfish." The daggers in his voice slice into me.

"Take him back to the house. See what you can do for him there."

"Where are you going?" Ryo whips around to face me. The rage in his eyes is unmistakably aimed for me. Kento also holds this look.

"To finish this off." The coldness and harshness of my voice surprises even me as I deliver my response. Ryo wavers a little but gathers himself quickly.

"How are you going to do that?" Kento, returning his attention back to Rowen, inquires.

"I have my ways."